Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Revised Edition

Stanley Rice

Description

Praise for the previous edition:

"...make[s] high-level scientific concepts accessible to secondary students."—Library Journal

"...clearly written and well organized..."—School Library Journal

"Fulfilling educational benchmarks identified by the National Academy of Sciences, this encyclopedia is an excellent choice for both public and academic libraries. Recommended."—Choice

"...a thorough and informative work...provide[s] accessible information...There is simply no other work that compares to this...High-school and public libraries will welcome such a well-researched title..."—Booklist

"The text is suitable for high school students but advanced enough for adult readers, too...presents important biodiversity topics...a handy overview for term papers and class presentations."—Library Journal

Biodiversity and ecology are founded in evolutionary science. In order to understand why species of organisms occupy different parts of the world, it is important to comprehend how they evolved.

Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Revised Edition examines this evolutionary framework with the help of more than 150 entries and five essays averaging at least 2,000 words each. High school teachers can use these entries—grouped by topic—to meet many of the science education goals established by the National Academy of Sciences. Written by a leading expert in the field, this comprehensive, full-color encyclopedia makes information about groups of organisms (from bacteria to mammals) and about ecological concepts and processes (such as biogeography and ecological succession) clearly and readily available to students and the general public. Tables at the end of each entry have a consistent structure, allowing readers to see how environmental conditions and biodiversity have changed through evolutionary time. 

Entries include:

• Acid rain and fog


• Biodiversity in the Jurassic period


• Darwin's finches


• Galápagos Islands


• Peter and Rosemary Grant


• Life in bogs


• Natural selection


• Population genetics


• Seedless plants


• Tropical rainforests and deforestation


• Alfred Russel Wallace.

Sujets

• Life Sciences
• Climate Change
• Environmental Science
• Sciences et techniques
• Biology
• Biodiversity
• Meteorology
• Ecology
• Science

Informations

• Publié par: Infobase Publishing
• Date de parution: 01 juin 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438195926
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Revised Edition
Copyright © 2020 by Stanley A. Rice
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information, contact:
Facts On File An imprint of Infobase 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001
ISBN 978-1-4381-9592-6
You can find Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.infobase.com
Contents Entries adaptation adaptive radiation allometry (biodiversity) archaea archaea (biodiversity) avoidance (biodiversity) bacteria (biodiversity) Bates, Henry Walter biodiversity and acid rain and fog biodiversity and agriculture biodiversity and cultural diversity biodiversity and decomposers biodiversity and ecological disturbances biodiversity and habitat fragmentation biodiversity and herbivory biodiversity and insects biodiversity and lichens biodiversity and mimicry biodiversity and parasitism biodiversity and pollination biodiversity and pollution biodiversity and predation biodiversity and seed dispersal biodiversity and the Cambrian explosion biodiversity and the Gal pagos Islands biodiversity and the greenhouse effect biodiversity and the hydrological cycle biodiversity and the nitrogen cycle biodiversity in Darwin s finches biodiversity in deep oceans biodiversity in the Cambrian period biodiversity in the Carboniferous period biodiversity in the Cretaceous period biodiversity in the Devonian period biodiversity in the Jurassic period biodiversity in the Neogene period biodiversity in the Ordovician period biodiversity in the Paleogene period biodiversity in the Permian period biodiversity in the Quaternary period biodiversity in the Silurian period biodiversity in the Triassic period biodiversity of amphibians biodiversity of animals biodiversity of arthropods biodiversity of bacteria biodiversity of birds biodiversity of bogs biodiversity of boreal and subalpine forests biodiversity of carnivorous plants biodiversity of cloud forests biodiversity of conifers biodiversity of cool deserts biodiversity of crustaceans biodiversity of dicots biodiversity of fishes biodiversity of flowering plants biodiversity of fungi biodiversity of grasslands and savannas biodiversity of living fossils biodiversity of mammals biodiversity of marshes and swamps biodiversity of monocots biodiversity of polar deserts biodiversity of protists biodiversity of reptiles biodiversity of rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes biodiversity of seed plants biodiversity of seedless plants biodiversity of shrublands biodiversity of spiders biodiversity of temperate coniferous forests biodiversity of temperate deciduous forests biodiversity of temperate dry forests biodiversity of temperate rain forests biodiversity of the tundra biodiversity of tropical seasonal forests biodiversity of warm deserts biodiversity on continental shelves biodiversity on coral reefs biogeochemical cycles biogeochemical cycles (biodiversity) biogeography biological classification biomagnification biomimicry biophilia bioremediation carbon cycle Carson, Rachel Louise cladistics class (taxonomic) cloning extinct animals cloud forests coevolution colony collapse disorder commensalism concept of biodiversity conservation biology convergence Cretaceous extinction Darwin, Charles decomposition (biodiversity) dinosaurs disjunct species diversity of life history DNA studies of biodiversity domain (taxonomic) ecological communities ecological community ecological competition ecological competition ecological disturbance ecological succession ecological succession ecology ecosystem services "Ecosystem Services: Public or Private Costs?" ecosystems ecotone (biodiversity) Ediacaran organisms endangered species endemic species endosymbionts in insects environmental ethics environmental psychology epigenetics (biodiversity) estuary (biodiversity) eukaryotes evolution of resistance evolutionary fitness exaptation extinction family (taxonomic) federal government role in conservation fishes fossilization fossils and fossilization founder effect and genetic drift fungi (biodiversity) Gaia hypothesis geological era geological period "Ghosts of Biodiversity Past" Grant, Peter and Rosemary greenhouse effect homeotherm Humboldt, Alexander von hybridization hybridization (biodiversity) hydrothermal vents (biodiversity) ice ages "If Humans Vanished …" importance of biodiversity to agriculture importance of biodiversity to medicine inbreeding (biodiversity) integrated pest management (IPM) invasive species island biogeography Jackson, Wes Janzen, Daniel H. keystone species Leopold, Aldo "Life of Earth: Portrait of a Beautiful, Middle-Aged, Stressed-Out Planet" Linnaeus, Carolus Maathai, Wangari Margulis, Lynn mass extinctions mesophication microbiome sequencing microbiomes Muir, John mutualism mutualism (biodiversity) natural selection natural systems agriculture natural systems agriculture order (taxonomic) organic agriculture patterns of biodiversity Permian extinction phenotypic plasticity (biodiversity) phylum (taxonomic) Pinchot, Gifford Pleistocene extinction polyculture (biodiversity) population biology population genetics primates productivity (biodiversity) protists quantification of biodiversity reef (biodiversity) relictual population restoration ecology root nodules sexual selection speciation spider subalpine forest symbiogenesis symbiogenesis Thoreau, Henry David tolerance (biodiversity) tropical rain forests and deforestation Wallace, Alfred Russel "Why are there so many Species?" Wilson, Edward O.
Entries
adaptation

Adaptation is the fit of an organism to its environment, which allows successful survival and reproduction. The environment of an organism includes other organisms of the same and different species. For any physical or biological environment, many different adaptations are possible, and this has resulted in exuberant biodiversity on Earth.
Characteristics that are not Genetically Based
Physiologists often use the word adaptation to describe environmentally induced characteristics rather than genetically based ones. These physiological adjustments can occur on the following three different levels: Physiological response occurs when an organism makes immediate physiological or behavioral changes to its environment. On a hot day, the stomata (pores) of a leaf may open. This allows water to evaporate from the leaf, making it cooler through the process of transpiration. The evaporation of water may also cool a mammal on a hot day (perspiration). The mammal may also respond behaviorally by seeking shade and by exposing its skin surface areas, allowing heat to diffuse into the air. In contrast, on a cold night, the mammal curls into a ball, reducing its heat loss. These responses typically do not involve changes in gene expression. Instead, the molecules and structures that are already present behave differently under the changed conditions. Acclimatization occurs when an individual organism adjusts its physical characteristics. Consider again the example of a leaf on a hot day. The leaf cells accumulate or manufacture molecules, which cause water to diffuse into them. The influx of water makes the leaf more resistant to wilting. Or consider humans at high elevations. When humans live at high elevations for a week or more, their bone marrow begins to manufacture more red blood cells, which compensates for the lower availability of oxygen at high elevations. These are not immediate responses; they require the genetically controlled manufacture of new materials. In animals, such changes can occur also as a result of behavioral changes (e.g., muscle building). Phenotypic plasticity occurs when individual organisms adjust to their environments as they develop. The leaves of plants that grow in cool, shady, moist conditions are often larger than those of plants that grow in warm, bright, dry conditions, even if all the plants are genetically identical, and the plants that grow in warm, bright, dry conditions have relatively larger root systems. This is illustrated by an experiment with the weed Abutilon theophrasti . The characteristics of both kinds of leaf result from the same genes, but the genes are expressed differently in each group of plants. Or consider humans who live from childhood at high elevations. These people may develop larger lungs than they would have had they lived at sea level; larger lungs compensate for the lower oxygen availability at high elevations.
Plasticity is rarely reversible and rarely changes after development of an organ or organism is complete. Although leaves can change the amount of dissolved substances in their cells, they cannot change their size once their development is complete. That is, acclimatization is reversible and plasticity, in this case, is not. The red blood cell count can change, but lung size cannot after childhood. In this case also, acclimatization is reversible and plasticity is not. As a result of plasticity, various cells or tissues of an organism can respond differently to the same environmental conditions. Plasticity and acclimatization are responsible for much of the phenotypic variability observed in natural environments.
Not all environmentally induced differences among individuals in a population are plasticity; in some cases, they may result simply from patterns of growth. As herbaceous plants grow, they accumulate stems and roots but shed their old leaves. A bigger plant will therefore have a relatively lesser amount of leaf material. Plants that grow in the shade are smaller and have relatively more leaf material than plants that grow in bright sunlight. The greater amount of leaf material is not necessarily plasticity; it may be due solely to the smaller size of the shade plants.
Plasticity can be passed down from one generation to